Primitive Halloween Folk Art

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Primitive Folk Art by Old World Primitives

Time got away from me this busy holiday season, and I never got a chance to post all of my newest designs for fall and Halloween before it was time to start working on orders for them. So now that I have already started working on Christmas versions of the two primitive dolls below, I figured I should finally post their Halloween versions first.

This is a reclining primitive Halloween cat doll, dressed in a black witch hat and a black cheesecloth scarf. Look for her in a Santa hat in my Etsy shop later this week.

And this is primitive Halloween moon wall decoration wearing a black witch hat. I envisioned him as a Halloween man in the moon, but some think he looks like an old crone, which I can see too. S/he will also be in my Etsy shop wearing a Santa hat later this week.

Sweet Annie Harvest

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Primitive Folk Art by Old World Primitives

I grew my own organic sweet annie this year to use in crafting my spun cotton and primitive doll creations. Today was harvesting day.

sweet annie

Fresh sweet annie smells so wonderful!

Earlier in the day, a black swallowtail butterfly visited the carrots, dill and parsley in my garden, and laid her eggs in them. Another swallowtail had done the same earlier in the week. I am looking forward to seeing the caterpillars hatch in a few days.

Halloween Spun Cotton Ornaments

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Primitive Folk Art by Old World Primitives

The ornaments pictured above are my newest spun cotton and spun glass designs for the 2011 holiday season. I am now working on another batch of Halloween primitive dolls – a black cat, a witch cat, and a witchy moon. More spun cotton Halloween ornaments will be added next week, and perhaps a Halloween paper doll or two.

spun cotton ornament display

Halloween Ornaments

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Primitive Folk Art by Old World Primitives

The orange and black chenille Halloween ornaments below are the latest additions to my line of chenille ornaments for the 2011 holiday season. Click an image to visit them in my Etsy shop.

What will emerge from my workspace today?
artist workspace

I have new spun cotton ornaments and spun glass ornaments in the works – they will be added to the Old World Primitives Etsy shop later today and tomorrow.

And the Kitties Come to Life

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Primitive Folk Art by Old World Primitives

No longer content to be mere works in progress, a group of four new primitive cat dolls have come to life.

Each of these primitive dolls may be found in the Old World Primitives Etsy shop.

What’s On My Worktable

Posted on July 2, 2011 by Primitive Folk Art by Old World Primitives

I’m working on a gaggle of primitive cat dolls this week. Look for them all finished and ready for adoption in my Etsy shop after the holiday weekend!

Back to Work

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Primitive Folk Art by Old World Primitives

One of the greatest things about being my own boss is that I can have cause to make two vacation posts on my blog in a row. After being back home from my Yellowstone trip for a little over a week and spending that time working on some new creations, prepping to improve some of the older photos in my Etsy shop (which I hope to complete this week), and planning for Halloween and Christmas (I know, it’s early – but I promised myself it had to be done earlier this year!)… I was lucky enough to be able to leave for another vacation to California, where my husband spent two weeks road tripping, camping and hiking our way through Yosemite, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks.

Below are some of my photos from our travels. My husband has also added a bunch more (even better!) photos to his Etsy photography print shop, Max Gorski Photography.

Liberty Cap and Nevada Falls in Yosemite National Park. It was in the mid 60s during the day in Yosemite, and just above freezing overnight.

The desert sand dunes in Death Valley near sunset. Here it was 109 degrees.

The Devil's Golf Course in Death Valley - a vast salt pan left behind by in an ancient dry lake bed.

Joshua trees in Joshua Tree National Park

A giant Sequoia in Sequoia National Park. For a sense of scale, the tiny black upside-down V that you see at the bottom center of the trunk is about the size of a person. It's hard to comprehend just how massive these 2,000+ year old giants are until you see them in person.

I also have two new spun cotton ornament designs to share – two kitties in fall friendly colors. The second one is the first of my Halloween 2011 designs – many more to follow!

An Inspiring Wilderness Respite

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Primitive Folk Art by Old World Primitives

This week I am back from vacation after a week spent backcountry hiking and wildlife watching in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. This was my 4th time visiting Yellowstone, and this time I was lucky enough to spot wolves, grizzly bears, black bears, bison (including a mother and newborn calf – just 2 hours old – right in front of Old Faithful), pronghorn, big horn sheep elk, mule deer, sage grouse, sandhill cranes, marmots, colonies of ground squirrels, eagles, and two nesting osprey. I also saw a moose in the aptly named town of Moose in Grand Teton on our final day.

It was definitely a great year to have my brand new spotting scope along with me! Through it I saw a wolf attempt to steal a bison calf from the herd, only to be chased away by an angry mob of mother bison; a grizzly bear sow with two cubs charge away a male who was stalking them… twice!… until he got the hint and left; and a large bison bull charge a black bear who decided that meant it was time to flee the area.

Below are some photos from my trip of the wildlife that was within range of my 300mm lens.

migrating bison herd

bison cow and newborn calf in front of Old Faithful

black wolf in Yellowstone National Park - spring 2011

bighorn sheep in Yellowstone National Park - spring 2011

black bear in Yellowstone National Park - spring 2011

grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park - spring 2011

moose in Grand Teton National Park - spring 2011

bison calf in Yellowstone National Park - spring 2011

Primitive Cat Dolls

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Primitive Folk Art by Old World Primitives

I have been working on a new series of primitive cat dolls this spring. Here is the herd, so far.

I am having a lot of fun with these cat dolls, so there will be more to come throughout the year – including Halloween cats and Christmas cats.

My Childhood Home: The Barns

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Primitive Folk Art by Old World Primitives

As a follow-up to my post about the 1771 farmhouse I grew up in, I now present to you the outbuildings.

1771 farmhouse barn

This was “the big barn,” with its saltbox style roof. An old man in the neighborhood remembered that this barn used to house a cider press that everyone would bring their apples to by wagon. Once the apples had been pressed into cider, he would deliver it back to the customers.

1771 farmhouse barn

This was “the little barn.” (That’s me collecting Easter eggs in front of it, many years ago!) The closest door led to a storage area where we kept shovels, rakes, gardening tools and such. There was also a giant wood pile inside. The second door led to a former blacksmith shop. Inside, there was still a work table, shelving, and a blacksmith’s forge with an old bicycle wheel that turned the fan.

I couldn’t find any closeups of our outhouse (… except for one where it was in use at the time… ) so you’ll have to look for it in the far right of this photo of my Dad, a snowman that he and my Mom built, and our dog. The outhouse was a 4-seater, with two adult sized seats and two child sized seats.

the outhouse behind my 1771 farmhouse

Coming up in my next post in this series: pictures of the interior of our house.